Qaeda No. 2 Calls President Bush An Alcoholic, Lying Gambler
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
CAIRO, Egypt — Al Qaeda’s no. 2 said President Bush was an alcoholic and a lying gambler who wagered on Iraq and lost, according to a new audiotape released yesterday.
Ayman al-Zawahri said in the tape that Mr. Bush has been forced to confess his failure in Iraq after he was “stubborn” and repeated the “lie, which he became addicted to, that he is winning” in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Bush suffers from an addictive personality, and was an alcoholic. I don’t know his present condition … but the one who examines his personality finds that he is addicted to two other faults — lying and gambling,” Mr. Zawahri said in the audiotape.
Mr. Bush, who is now 60, has acknowledged that he once had a problem with drinking but said he gave up alcohol when he was 40 years old.
The 41-minute audiotape could not immediately be authenticated but was seen by the Associated Press on a Web site commonly used by insurgent groups and carried the logo of the multimedia arm of Al Qaeda, as-Sahab.
